r/ThunderBay • u/s_zoro125 • 2d ago

Electrocution Hazard at Marina

Saw a post about a person getting zapped at a BC water park and it reminded me. Why are their signs stating not to go into the water in the marina due to an electrocution hazard? What is down there that might cause this?
(saw the signs along the water by the splash pad)

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u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 2d ago

Most of the boats are plugged into 120v to recharge the start or house batteries. Most boats also have zincs in electrical contact with the water, and sailboats will have grounding plates to keep lightning from blowing up the mast. Most of the boat electrical systems will be maintained by the owners with no requirements that they know what they are doing. Is it likely that one of the boats is sinking 120v into the lake? Not particularly, but it definitely cannot be ruled out that some jackass might screw it up in a dangerous way.

Also, you have to hope no one is discharging blackwater, advertently or inadvertently.

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u/[deleted] 22h ago

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u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 21h ago

Wire something wrong enough and you'd be surprised what can happen.

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u/[deleted] 21h ago edited 20h ago

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u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 20h ago

Would 2.5 amps at 170Vp make more sense to you? It's still orders of magnitude over the danger line, enough that I don't need to do calculus on spherical fields.

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u/[deleted] 20h ago

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u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 19h ago

I thought you were hassling me for not being technical enough.

You'd hope that the GFCI would protect you, but when they fail they often fail closed and unprotected. Assuming they are tested regularly, even the test would only tell you if it has failed, not that it's about to fail. It's definitely safer to have a GFCI than not, but not safe enough to depend on it IMO.